This is a big week in the Smith household! On Thursday, we will travel to Waycross and Richmond Hill to visit and celebrate Thanksgiving with both sides of our family. Then, on Friday, we will begin bringing our Christmas decorations down from the attic and preparing the parsonage for the upcoming season. On Saturday we will pull out our ornaments and set up our tree, probably make more than one trip to Hobby Lobby, and continue to work on consuming the Thanksgiving left-overs.

This week will be a week of preparation for us, from food to carry with us on Thanksgiving to the decorations we will be readying for Christmas, we will be in preparation mode. Advent too, is a season of preparation, a time to ready ourselves and our hearts for the coming of Christ born in a manger and as the savior of the world who comes to establish his Kingdom forever at his second coming. While we all have a tendency to get busy during these next few weeks, I think it is essential for us to take time to prepare ourselves, and to prepare our hearts, for the work that God desires to do in us and through us this Christmas.

So, my hope is that, amid the hustle and preparations in your home this week, that you would find time to pause and reflect on the blessings God has shared with you in order to give thanks and that your thanksgiving would help to prepare your heart and soul for Christmas.

Jonathan Smith
For Jesus. For People. For Community.